Cradle of Ashes
by lianpe
Summary: Jace is a prisoner in the Silent City and Izzy has a plan to get him out. An alternative to some of the events in City of Ashes. There are a lot of emotions involved - mainly Isabelle's or Clary's, but it centers around Jace's imprisonment in the Silent City.
1. Chapter 1

Isabelle leant against her bedroom door.  
The Inquisitor's footsteps, soft, yet purposeful, seemed as loud as a drum to Isabelle.  
So _this _was the woman who dared stick Jace in a cold, dark cell below the Silent City.  
Isabelle didn't like seeing Jace beaten emotionally. Physically, he more than deserved it most of the time, plus he was ever ready to give back as good as he got.  
Emotional. That was the word. Jace was emotional. No doubt Jace was emotional in everything he did, and this, more often than not, yielded him the best of results.  
Yes, Jace was smart, but the Inquisitor was smarter.  
Smarter, and more bitter. Isabelle knew Jace could be bitter, but the Inquisitor was lime compared to Jace's tangy orange of bitterness.  
Almost a stale lime juice, the Inquisitor was. There was most certainly something off about her - something Isabelle couldn't quite put her finger on. Something nasty from years and years ago that turned her bitter and merciless. Something that gave her a steely core.  
Still, Isabelle suspected that if one were to take a look inside the Inquisitor's steely core, one would still find a great deal of raw emotion.  
You can't hide emotion, Isabelle concluded, gazing, almost wistfully at her older brother.  
Alec, sitting on Isabelle's bed, a book in his lap, absent-mindedly toyed with the edges of his frayed jumper, probably thinking about Magnus. It was almost all he did nowadays.  
Isabelle didn't know whether to be wary or grateful that Magnus had come Alec's way. He was a worthy distraction - Alec wasn't quite so goey around Jace anymore, but he was constantly, constantly worried. He was worried about a lot of things. His appearance, his personality - things he was usually happy to overlook.  
Isabelle was worried too. She didn't want Alec to muck up in front of Jace or Magnus. Especially not Jace.  
"Izzy?" Alec looked up. "Why don't you come and sit down?" He patted the edge of the bed next to him.  
Isabelle shook her head. "How can I sit down and relax if I know Jace is alone in a dingy, awful cell?"  
"You're not going to help him pasted to your door like that, listening to the Inquisitor pace up and down the hallway."  
He had a point, Isabelle had to admit.  
"Fine." She slumped down beside him, grabbing one of her fringed pillows to hug. "You know," Isabelle began, "Jace doesn't _have _to stay in the Silent City all night."  
Alec raised his brows. "What do you mean?"  
She sighed impatiently, suddenly caught with this new idea. "I'm saying, as long as they _think _he's there, it doesn't matter."  
"What doesn't matter?" Alec frowned.  
Isabelle swatted her brother with her pillow. "It doesn't matter if he isn't there at all. Meaning, we could steal him away and pop him back in there if the Inquisitor needs to check on him."  
Alec looked mildly distressed. "Izzy - what you're suggesting...it won't work, ok?"  
"Of course it will!" Isabelle cried, summoning up enough enthusiasm for the both of them. "You wait and see - I'll ask Clary and _of course _she'll say yes."  
"Of course she will." Alec muttered under his breath.

Okay, that's the end of Chapter One! What do you guys think? Please leave a review - reviews are love. ❤


	2. Chapter 2

Clary couldn't understand how the Inquisitor could chuck Jace in a cell meant for a common criminal. It just didn't seem _right_. Was this how the shadowhunters punished those who disobeyed? Surely a race descended from the Angel Raziel would be less barbaric?  
"Penny for your thoughts?" Luke leaned over her shoulder, gazing at the picture she was painting.  
Clary sighed. "It's nothing." She couldn't share her feelings with Luke, which was odd because she'd almost come to regard him as her father.  
"Doesn't look like nothing."  
"What?"  
He pointed at her painting. "When you're upset, you always hold your brush like you're trying to fend somebody off. It makes your pictures look..." he trailed off.  
"Untidy?"  
"No." Luke smiled. "Intense. It makes your pictures look intense."  
Clary stared down at her work. It didn't look intense to her. It looked...messed up. Much like her current mood.  
"Is that a bad thing?"  
Luke sat down beside her. "You tell me. Is there anything making your pictures intense?"  
Clary opened her mouth before shutting it again.  
"I take it there is." Luke smiled. "I understand, Clary."  
"You...do?"  
"Yes." He gave her a benevolent glance. "Having your mother in a coma is hard for you. You don't need to go through this alone."  
"My...mother?" Clary replied, in a horrified tone of voice. How could she have forgotten? It was inexcusable.  
Luke frowned. "Unless, of course, it's something else."  
"No - no...it's Mom." Clary floundered in an attempt to stick to Luke's unknowingly produced excuse. "I miss her."  
Luke's expression softened. "I know you do, Clary, but it's safer for you here in Idris. And your mother isn't beyond help, you know."  
Feeling a bit like a scoundrel, Clary nodded and lowered her head to continue the massacre of her painting.  
Luke stood watching her for a couple of minutes before he walked off, mumbling under his breath as he did so.

It was late afternoon, almost evening when Clary finished her painting. It was the most abstract of all her paintings, and even to her it looked dark, much like her present mood.  
A knock at the door interrupted her musings, and she was shocked to find Isabelle standing on the doorstep.  
Clary said the first words that came into her head, and, by some strange circumstance, Isabelle did too.  
"Jace."  
Isabelle did a very un-Isabelle like thing and reached out for Clary's hand.  
"I think I've found a way to get Jace out of the Silent City without the Inquisitor finding out."  
It was all Clary needed to lift her out of her present mood.  
"When?"  
"What?" Isabelle was momentarily shocked by Clary's reply.  
"When can we get Jace out?"  
"Tonight - if we're lucky."  
"Then tonight it is."


End file.
